interior design – Building The Godfrey

Peace and Welcome

Many people have asked what our name means and we’re proud to share the background on it. “Godfrey” means peace and welcome and that’s exactly what we want our guests to feel when they enter our lobby.

The hotel lobby is a critical experience for guests and it must accomplish a lot – it has to make guests feel welcome, while also offering assistance with their stay at the same time. The lobby must evoke a consistent feel that the guest will experience throughout the hotel, including in the guest rooms and other common areas of a hotel.

Our lobby is designed to be spacious and luxurious, complimented with intimate seating for socializing or relaxing. The interior design will include oak paneling, polished porcelain flooring and contemporary furniture. There will also be a Chef-driven restaurant adjacent to our lobby (stay tuned for details!).

Following is a look inside our lobby and the progress underway, followed by what it will actually look like upon completion – the lobby rendering.

Lobby - Where the front desk will be. — Lobby – Where the front desk will be.

Larry Cassillo, our General Manager, provided a tour of our hotel and is pictured below in front of where the front desk will soon be.

Larry Cassillo, our GM, provides a tour of The Godfrey Boston - and is pictured where the lobby front desk will be. — Larry Cassillo, our GM, provides a tour of The Godfrey Boston – and is pictured where the lobby front desk will be.

Last – a beautiful rendering of what our lobby will look like! After much work, we’re certain the lobby will welcome our future guests.

The Front Desk - The Godfrey Hotel Boston — The Front Desk – The Godfrey Hotel Boston

Q&A with Gettys Design Director Chris McDonough

Chris McDonough is Design Director at The Gettys Group, leading interior design for the guest rooms at The Godfrey Hotel Chicago. We spoke to him about where he started with the project, and about how he wanted guests to feel when they arrived at the hotel.

The Gettys Group Design Director Chris McDonough created an urban sanctuary when designing guest rooms at The Godfrey Hotel Chicago.

Q: What are some of your favorite features in the guest rooms?

A: From a guest experience and emotional response, my favorite aspect of the guest room is the overall feeling of sophisticated calm that the space provides. The subtle variance in the shower tile finish is a hidden design element that the guest can discover.

Q: Where did you start when designing the rooms? Or, what was the inspiration?

A: The boldness and the strength of the exterior architecture was obviously a design parameter that we had to consider. When considering the guest room design, our goal was to compliment the unique exterior but also provide an urban sanctuary for the guest from the energy of River North.

Q: What do you want guests to feel when they stay at The Godfrey Hotel Chicago?

A: We would like the guest to feel stylish and sophisticated, and that they have found a hidden, unique gem within the crowded Chicago hotel market.

To see more of our guest room photos, take a look at this blog post featuring the newly designed spaces. You can also learn more about guest room features at The Godfrey Hotel Chicago by clicking here.

Thank you Chris for conducting the Q&A.

A Warm Welcome with a Shining Chandelier

As guests enter our hotel, we hope they will feel warm and welcome. So much so, the very word “Godfrey” means peace and welcome. We previously blogged about the importance of the lobby and making a great first impression (cliche and all!). We want our guests to experience a chic and sophisticated lobby and a key feature of that is the chandelier we just installed.

We caught up with Chris McDonough, design director at GETTYS – the firm responsible for our sophisticated and contemporary interior design. Chris said the marble-clad oval shaped lobby provides a welcoming experience for the guest with the large concentric ring pendant serving as a focal point. While visible from the street as well, this fixture reflects the strong geometry of the building and establishes the upscale feel for the property upon arrival.

Below is a first look at our chandelier, along with a flashback to the space pre-installation.

Location for the Godfrey's chandelier — Location for the Godfrey’s chandelier (Aug. 2013)

Guests may feel stressed from the hustle and bustle of travel and upon entering our hotel, we hope they feel the surprise and delight of our beautiful space. After all, we are designing with the guests’ experience in mind.